


An Instrumental Apology

by YancyPants



Series: Like Abigail but with a "V" [3]
Category: House M.D.
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 06:08:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6041074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YancyPants/pseuds/YancyPants
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>House plays the piano to apologize to Wilson at the behest of their daughter Avigail. Also, it's Valentine's Day so House should probably try to be romantic about the whole ordeal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Instrumental Apology

**Author's Note:**

> Wow how late am I for Valentine's Day? The answer is very late.  
> In my defense I wasn't planning on doing a fic for Valentine's Day and posted something else that day that I had been working on. Then I got this idea a day later so yeah...anyway have a late fic because I want to post it anyway.

Gregory House is not a man that cares about Valentine's Day in the slightest. It used to be a non issue for him. He'd piss people off with his lack of enthusiasm for the holiday and go about his day. Simple and effective, especially against Cameron when she used to care about what he thought and felt.

Then he married Wilson. 

And now Valentine’s Day is a massive problem. Because Wilson will say that he isn't expecting any grand romantic gestures and House will take him at his word because honestly House can't justify being any more romantic than he normally is. Inevitably Wilson will get upset at the lack of anything lovey-dovey, because Wilson is a damn romantic no matter how vehemently he denies it, and House will find himself in situations like the one he's in now, being scolded by his five year old daughter because he forgot to wish Wilson a happy Valentine's Day, in front of both Chase and Thirteen who happen to be going over a potential cases with him while the rest of the fellows conduct tests to confirm a diagnosis he already knows is correct.

“You have to apologize!” Gail tells him with her hands on her hips just near the pocket of her overalls, and her feet, clad in her light up sneakers, planted firmly hip width apart. She's taken her scolding stance from Wilson and House is almost certain Wilson stole his from Wonder Woman. In any case it's just as ridiculous on Gail as it is on Wilson but House still manages feel properly guilty, somehow. Not that he's going to admit that to either of them. 

“I don't have to do anything, kiddo, because I didn't do anything wrong.” House leans against the whiteboard to punctuate his point.

“Yes you did! You made Daddy sad and I can't fix it so you have to!” Gail stomps closer to her father and glares up at him with as much anger as she can muster. A shiver runs down House's back.

“She has a point you know,” Chase says when it's clear that House isn't going to respond to his daughter, who shouldn't really be sitting in on a differential but no one has the heart to tell her to leave. 

House glares at Chase and silently dares him to continue with the looming threat of being hit upside the head with a cane. Chase apparently doesn't listen to silent threats very well.

“Look, just because Wilson says he doesn't expect anything doesn't mean he doesn't want anything. You have to do something anyway,” Chase finishes even as House's glare gets stronger. Go big or go home Chase.

Thirteen chuckles as she can see the moment House wants to strangle Chase when Gail smiles and points to him with a terribly familiar look of smug satisfaction.

“See, uncle Chase agrees with me,” she says and finishes with a grin that makes House bristle because that's his and she should give it back, even though she wields it expertly. 

“Well uncle Chase is a brown nose,” House replies in a mockingly nasal tone and watches Gail work through the statement in her mind while Chase scrunches his face in mild annoyance at being called a kiss ass in front of a five year old. 

“I don't know what that means,” Gail says with a little pout. 

“It means your father doesn't want to admit to being wrong so he's trying to bully Chase to make himself feel better,” Thirteen says as she makes her way over to kneel next to Gail. 

“Traitor,” House huffs out at his charge and receives a wink in response. 

“Name calling is bad, Papa. Say sorry.” 

House throws his head back in exasperation and groans. It's more of a growl but the intent is the same. 

“Yeah, Doctor House, say you're sorry,” Thirteen adds with a pout of her own. Chase sighs but doesn't intervene. He knows it'll be a cold day in Hell before House actually apologizes to anyone, especially him, for something as trivial as name calling. 

“I’m not apologizing!” 

There's a beat of silence in the room after House's outburst that has both Chase and Thirteen worried that Gail is about to cry, but like House she stands strong and shoots back a response of her own that shows just how much she's learned from Wilson on how to handle her father.

“Kay. Don't apologize. I'll just tell Daddy all those bad words you taught me that you made me promise not to say around him.”

Gail smirks and Thirteen can't help but laugh at the excellent display of bravado from the child next to her. Chase on the other hand can't seem to close his mouth after having let it fall open in shock. He looks at House with wide eyes waiting for a reply. 

“You conniving little menace.” House would probably sound proud if he didn't feel so betrayed.

Gail doesn't even bat an eyelid.

House finally breaks after a solid minute of being glared at by his daughter and her posse of turncoat fellows. He sighs and pushes away from the whiteboard to lean on his cane with both hands placed on the handle.

“And how exactly am I supposed to apologize to Wilson?” House asks Gail. The glimmer of mischief in her eyes makes him hesitant to hear her plan when Gail scrambles up on the table and stands then motions him to her side. Once House is closer she whispers in his ear, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear but the sentiment is still cute, and tells him what to do.

House smiles because her plan isn't actually anything he's unwilling to do. For someone who can't tell left from right yet, Gail's a rather emotionally savvy child, but with Wilson as half of her parenting influence House really shouldn't be surprised

“Alright you heard the general,” House says looking between Chase and Thirteen. “Go forth and fetch the piano.” He points at the door dramatically until both of them leave shaking their heads as they go. 

House pauses for a moment to lean his cane against the table and look at Gail before folding his arms across his chest.

“I'm not gonna say sorry out loud,” he tells her and pokes her nose. She giggles when he reaches out to put his hands under her arms and lift her into the air.

“That's okay Papa, I'll tell Daddy what you mean!” she assures him as her feet touch the ground. 

Gail bounds out of the room like a horse at the start of a race. House figures she's off to the daycare center to tell the nurse on duty her plan so he makes it a point not to rush after her since he probably won't be able to catch up with her at this point anyway. Instead he grabs his cane from where he laid it against the table and makes his way out to prepare for his apology. 

 

 

Wilson's in the middle of working on a rather intimidating stack of paperwork when his pager goes off. He wants to ignore because he really should get his paperwork done and he knows that he has nothing scheduled for today but he checks it anyway just to be safe. 

He's definitely surprised to see the message is from Cuddy but less surprised about its content.

-House Daycare-

It isn't much but it's enough to get Wilson worried since it means either House is making a fuss in the daycare or Gail is and House is making the situation worse. Both have been known to happen, frequently. Either way, Wilson needs to get down there and defuse the situation. He stands and places his pager back on his belt, tugs on his coat and leaves his desk and his paperwork for another time.

 

 

Seeing House seated at a piano in front of a gaggle of children is not what Wilson had prepared himself for upon entering the hospital's daycare. And he definitely wasn't prepared to see Gail standing in front of her father in order to address the other children, and adults apparently, Wilson notes as he looks around the room and sees Cuddy, a good number of nurses, and a few of House's fellows namely Chase, Thirteen, and Foreman. Wilson can guess that the rest are busy or just didn't get the memo about whatever House is currently about to do.

Gail stands up straighter when Cuddy points out to her that Wilson is in the room.  She smiles and sprints over to her father fast enough to nearly knock him over when she slams into his legs without slowing down. At all. Wilson is suddenly very glad that five-year-olds aren't too strong, even if his knees beg to differ. Cuddy comes up behind with a small wave for Wilson as he talks with his daughter. He waves back of course but his focus is on Gail the moment she starts to speak.

“Hi Daddy!” 

“Hi Bitsy,” Wilson chuckles out. She's nearly bouncing out of her skin and undoubtedly excited about something. Probably a scheme she and House have cooked up together. “Wanna tell me what's going on?"

Gail gasps in horror and lets go of Wilson to put her hands on either side of her head. “I told Papa I was gonna tell you but I forgot and hugged you instead!”

“You can tell me now,” Wilson says gently. Gail nods and pulls on his pant leg until he crouches in front of her.

“Papa says he's not gonna say it out loud but he's sorry for forgetting Valentine's Day so now he's gonna play the Wedding Song for you ‘cause he loves you,” Gail whispers and this time it's loud enough for only Wilson to hear. 

Gail heads off back toward House before Wilson can cobble together a response. Her information dump has left him more confused than when he entered and for as close as he is to Gail, he can't figure out what she means by the Wedding Song. He knows that she's not talking about the 'Bridal Chorus' because, like most everybody else in the world she calls that song 'Here Comes the Bride' but he can't puzzle out what she means by the Wedding Song. So when she announces to the entire room that House will be playing it he's just as curious as everyone else present.

“This one's for you, Daddy,” Gail declares for the entire room to hear. She points to Wilson who hasn't moved and is till standing near the entrance to the room they're in. All eyes are on him as shifts further into the space and away from the door, save for Gail who pulls herself up on the piano bench to sit next to House while he finds his place on the keyboard of the hospital's small upright.

Wilson feels his face heat up as Gail orders House to begin playing and of course House has to be defiant and look to Wilson, wink and click his tongue, before playing. Years of dealing with House have given Wilson the skills necessary to avoid making a show of his own exasperation in front of so many people. 

House does eventually start and his entire demeanor changes. He straightens his back and places his fingers into the chord positions he needs to begin playing and closes his eyes, presumably to get into the right headspace for creating music. 

The moment House presses on the keys, Gail starts bouncing up and down unable to contain her excitement. Even though the tune House has chosen is on the slower side she can't stop herself from hopping down from the stool to move to the middle of the room where there happens to be more space for dancing. 

Wilson watches his daughter sway to music and while the tune seems familiar he can't quite place it. What he's certain of is that it's beautiful. Almost optimistic. There are bits of syncopation that make the pace of the song engaging and the occasional runs up the scale that replace singular notes, clearly ad libbed in the moment, provide a cacophony of notes that worm their way into Wilson's ear and take hold of his attention.

Just when Wilson is used to the upward runs, House changes his approach and adds runs down the scale that sound even more intriguing. And it's at this point that Wilson is wracking his brain to figure out where he's heard the song before. Gail, for her part continues to sway in the middle of the room with her sneakers strobing away despite the brightness of the lights. A few other children have joined her, mainly because sitting is boring and dancing along gives them an excuse to move around.

Next to Wilson Cuddy has out her phone and is filming the entire scene as her position lets her film both House and Gail as they perform for Wilson. He'll have to ask her to send him the video later. 

About a minute into his impromptu recital, House pulls staccato notes out of the piano that give the song even more rhythmic depth and the kids in the middle of the room are really dancing along now that there's a beat to latch onto. 

The moment House slides his thumb down from the highest notes of the piano Wilson knows exactly why Gail called it the Wedding Song.

House is playing an extravagant, but not at all unpleasant, rendition of Frankie Valli’s 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You.' The same song he played at their wedding instead of participating in a first dance, for obvious reasons visually represented by a cane and a Rolling Stones shirt under the blazer of his tuxedo. His version then was far more intimate, a bit laid back but still full of every trick that House could throw in. This version seems to be more for the benefit of himself and the audience. And Wilson who is absolutely delighted s imply because House is having the time of his life and the smile on his face is all Wilson has wanted see for the past few years that they've been married.

Gail is doing her best attempt at ballroom dancing with anyone willing to dance with her who just so happens to be Thirteen at this moment. She's got Gail's feet positioned on top of hers and they're spinning about the room with a following of other children paired up with each other. Even Foreman is tapping his feet as House revisits the staccato beats from earlier and Chase is having a blast singing along with a group of nurses even though House is playing an arrangement that includes the notes for the vocal portion. The beauty of it is that nobody cares. Everyone is getting along and Wilson is damn near giddy at the sight. He has to genuinely force himself to remain where he is instead of marching over to House to grab his face and pull him into a kiss.

House raises his head and opens his eyes to look at Wilson. He's rolled his way up the keys again and has gotten to the part of the song in which the words “I love you baby” and so on are sung. House plays that portion with so much manic fervor that he all but drowns out the chorus he has amassed around the piano.

Wilson's smile is wide enough to to cause his eyes to squint. His heart is singing and he's almost emotionally spent as House starts nearing the end of the piece. All throughout the final moments of the song, as his fingers fly across the keys, House keeps his eyes on Wilson until the final chord that he hits at the lower end of the keyboard.

There's a pause in the room's activity as the final notes echo with the aid of the sustain pedal but that doesn't last long as a chorus of voices provided by the children yell “Happy Valentine's Day,” and start cheering for House. The adults in room join in, clapping along with the kids who are all still brimming with energy. House bows his head in acknowledgment of their praise but only has eyes for Wilson when he looks up again.

Wilson claps too, he has to after a performance like that and specifically for him. No longer holding himself back he walks over to House as the kids start demanding an encore. Without even thinking, House starts vamping, playing bits a pieces of other crooner songs that placate the mass of people around him. 

Wilson surveys the room once he's seated next to House on the piano bench. Gail is talking to Cuddy, gesticulating wildly to illustrate whatever point she's trying to make. Chase, Thirteen, and Foreman are speaking among themselves and the nurses are scattering to get to their stations, having been away from them long enough. Scooting closer to House, Wilson lets out a contented sigh and leans against his husband.

“Apology accepted,” Wilson says. “Unnecessary, but accepted.”

“How gracious of you, sir James,” he replies as he transitions into playing the accompaniment for 'I'm Learning About Love’ by Brenda Lee. Very Subtle. “Anything else I can do ya for?”

It's a rhetorical question and Wilson knows it but he decides to take advantage of the opportunity.

“Who convinced you to apologize?”

House squints and purses his lips. “A tricksy little spider and her dumb kookaburra accomplice. And Brutus.” 

“So Bitsy, Chase, and...Foreman?” Wilson asks guessing as to who Brutus is in this scenario. 

“Thirteen.” House corrects. He still sounds absolutely gutted as if he'd been betrayed by his most trusted second in command.

“You're fine, House.”

“That's what you think.”

Wilson's in a good mood so he allows House to indulge in his melodrama, though it is starting to sour the moment. So he takes action. While House focuses on the piano again, Wilson sneaks a quick kiss on his cheek.

“Why Jimmy,” House gasps, making a big show of it. “I'm scandalized! You know that fraternization in the workplace strictly prohibited.”

“Says the man who just serenaded his husband with the love song to end all love songs in the middle of a hospital daycare. With his boss watching. And filming by the way. It's a little late to worry about the consequences of workplace flirting now don't you think?”

House leans against Wilson as he hits a few lower notes but doesn't move himself when gets closer to middle c again. 

“Happy Valentine's Day, Wilson.” It's quiet, not really a whisper but there's no force behind it. Wilson leans into House again and smiles. 

Briefly, Wilson entertains the idea of leaving to head back to his paperwork but seeing his daughter dancing around the room while House is so relaxed, he can't find the motivation to move. Besides it's Valentine's Day and House is playing the piano for him. He's gonna bask in the moment. Paperwork can wait.

Wilson puts his head on House's shoulder and sighs, “Happy Valentine's Day, House," while House plays on. 

**Author's Note:**

> [ Can't Take My Eyes Off You Piano Cover](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nVoP-m4bw4) This is what I used as reference for House's version of the song in case anyone wants to check it out. It's what started this fic in the first place honestly. Hooray for perfect ideas after they're actually relevant!


End file.
